Kate

I met Kate in the Lake district in autumn. I remember the wet leaves on the paths, the clean air. It was a walk organized by the University of Leeds hiking society.  Kate was friendly, and tall like me, and doing a PhD in chemistry. She told me how much she loved living in her [...]

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Cycling in the cold

requires layers. Michael’s evoke a slightly more elegant impression than mine do, being various shades of black and charcoal. I have a navy blue long-sleeved woolen undershirt, over which I wear my turquoise, white and yellow cycling t-shirt. It says Astana, which I later discovered is the capital of Kazakhstan. I bought it because it [...]

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Bits and bobs

Here I am, to join the crowd (everyone else has been doing this). You can make yours here. (Or you should be able to, at least. The link isn’t working for me at the moment.)
Just got back from a ride. Think I overdid it – feeling slightly flattened. I’ve been experimenting with going quite fast [...]

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Summer

Despite the earnest sentiments expressed in my last post, this week I’ve been wondering if I should hand in my Australian passport. It’s been HOT. And I haven’t been coping. Not sleeping well, feeling faint and floppy. But when I say hot, I mean 28 degrees. Nothing.
Nevertheless, we went cycling yesterday evening. The sun baked [...]

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Domestics

General consensus says that my small but devoted readership must be sick to death of Halden photos by now. Especially as they are, according to general consensus, all a variation of about two and a half views. Well, it’s a small town. A small town with a river and a harbour and a fortress, which [...]

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The end of Summer

I fly to Leeds this afternoon. It has been lovely to have a day and a half in the snuggle-house, to pack, to recover, to reflect. It was a good summer. We got back to Norway from Monterey on Monday night. Our Austrian paragliding licenses arrived in the post yesterday – hurrah!! Two years after [...]

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Return of the snuggle-car

The snuggle-car is back in action! For its untimely demise, see clunk cluck clunk. This next photo is proof of how happy we were before it broke down last Saturday:We got it back yesterday, the third day the mechanic told us it ‘might be ready’. Luckily it finally was, and now we can drive to [...]

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Still smiling

We rode out to the lakes today (bikes are better than cars, anyway) and it’s just gorgeous. The ice has melted now, but today for the first time I noticed a shower of birdsong as we rode along. High, and sweet, and clear.

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